This invention relates broadly to audio recording communication devices and practices, including message conveyance-, audio mail-, product promotion- and self-reminder systems, and specifically to a stick-on microchip recording and reproducing apparatus for fastening recorded voice messages or other audio information upon selectable surfaces or compatible objects in any desired temporary location.
The general advantages for many purposes of recorded audio communication over the written or printed medium are well known; they include the superior ease and speed of dictation (over handwriting or typing) and the opportunity to make a more personal and/or distinct impression on the receiver, by way of vocal inflection, tone of voice, etc. Accordingly, audio recording and reproducing devices and/or associated storage medium means, have been employed for multiple personal and business communication purposes, including for message conveyance-, audio mail-, audio product promotion- and self-reminder systems.
With respect to message conveyance, for example, it is not uncommon for members of households to leave one another recorded audio messages or "reminders" utilizing a specialized audiotape or recordable microchip feature of their telephone answering machines; these machines sometimes include a different colored blinking light for such intra-household messages than that signaling a waiting message received from an outside telephone line. Certain desktop personal computers also include a recordable microchip message or reminder feature which may be similarly employed by household members for this purpose.
With respect to audio mail, recorded audio messages are sometimes transited between separated parties by dictating an audiotape cassette and sending it through the mail or alternate postal-type carrier, optionally in a mailer or other packaging vessel customized to receive standard-sized cassettes, with or without an enclosure such as a written letter or photograph.
This form of audio mail communication may be practiced by widely separated loved ones (such as foreign-deployed military service personnel and their stateside families) who lack ready access to telephones, or between those who wish to economize on long-distance telephone charges or who otherwise prefer to "converse" via dictated tape.
This general practice is also facilitated and made more convenient by the self-contained "audio mailer" disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,166,851 to Jacobson, a co-inventor of the present invention, which includes an audiotape or microchip-based recording and reproducing means non-removably enclosed in a durable mailer casing suitably protecting said means from activation or breakage during transit, and optionally further includes a crevice space adapted to receive enclosures such as letters or photographs.
In the product promotion context, retail vendors have sometimes employed "point of sale" audio devices whereby a prerecorded message imparts information or a "sales pitch" to potential buyers in store foyers or aisles adjacent products; U.S. Pat. No. 2,517,181 to Davis is an early disclosure of such a system; a more modern "point of sale" promotional device activated by an ultrasonic electronic sensor which senses the presence of a person within a certain radius of the product, and is somewhat portable in nature, has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,670,798 to Campbell et al.
Another not uncommon practice in the general audio recording communication field is the use by individuals of miniature tape recorders, sometimes in novelty configurations such as "pens" having a built-in short duration continuous tape loop, for the purpose of dictating reminders and "notes" to themselves, regarding "things to do" and the like. Hand-held recordable microchip self-reminder devices are also commercially available.
All such known recorded audio communication practices and disclosures, however, have significant limitations or shortcomings which the present invention is designed to overcome.
It is the multiple object of this invention to expand the scope of-, improve upon- and make more convenient recorded audio message conveyance-, audio mail-, audio product promotion- and self-reminder practices, as further detailed below:
1. Message Conveyance
The above-mentioned telephone answering machines sometimes used by householders to leave recorded audio messages for each other are stationary objects, frequently placed inconspicuously in room corners, and are not movably placeable in conspicuous locations around the house or apartment; therefore audio messages placed on said machines (particularly at times when the receiver is not in the habit of inspecting the machine for messages) may be overlooked by the intended receiver. Desktop personal computers which have a message/reminder feature are likewise typically placed in a fixed location on a desk or table within the household, and messages left thereon are likewise subject to being overlooked.
A limited solution to the problem of overlooked messages is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,241,427 to Lin, which teaches a microchip circuit message recording and playback device attached to the interior of a front door adjacent the knob, activated by an incoming person's use of his or her front door key. However, this allows for placement of recorded messages in but one more permanent location and is therefore not useful for certain types of intra-household messages.
Specifically, the above-mentioned message conveyance devices and methods do not allow for the temporary mounting of audio messages in any desired conspicuous location within a residence. Such temporary placement may be desirable, for example, when a member of a household wishes to leave an important audio message for another household member after the person to whom the message is being directed has gone to sleep, in situations where the person leaving the message will themselves be sleeping or away in the morning; the sender would naturally wish to leave said message secured in a place the receiving party is sure to notice and play back immediately upon arising, such as mounted on a clock radio or bathroom mirror.
The present invention enables a user to easily, non-permanently fasten a microchip recording and playback apparatus containing a recorded voice message or other audio information to selectable household surfaces or objects, such as doors, walls, mirrors, bulletin boards or calendars, in locations and along the sightline the user deems most desirable and likely to be timely noticed, activated and heard by the intended receiver.
The present invention has the further advantage over stationary answering machines and desktop personal computers of enabling a user to record a message which the receiving party can take with them and activate at a later time, prompting the receiving party to remember something they might otherwise forget; for example, when a parent wishes to aurally remind a school child of an after-school appointment, the present invention enables the parent to record a message to that effect and non-permanently affix it to the child's notebook or lunchbox, for activation at the end of the school day. This method of conveying reminders between separated householders (who are not directly reachable by telephone call at a fixed location), is far more convenient and less costly than the available alternatives, such as the carrying by the receiving party of either a beeper (with or without a scripted message capability) or cellular telephone.
2. Audio Mail
The above-mentioned transiting of recorded messages by sending cassettes through the mail (or alternate postal-type carriers) does not allow for the activation of the audio message immediately upon receipt of the mailer or package containing said cassette; rather the recipient must locate a tape player and insert the cassette inside. Where a recipient either does not own a tape player, or has one which is broken (or lacks charged batteries), there can be substantial delay in receipt of the audio message, and preparation of a reply. It is therefore desirable and more convenient to transit recorded audiotape messages with an accompanying recording and reproducing means whereby the recipient can activate the audio message immediately upon receipt of the vessel in which it is mailed, and re-use same to record a reply to the sender, or otherwise.
The self-contained "audio mailer" disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,166,841 to present co-inventor Jacobson, which includes a non-removable recording/reproducing means and a storage medium means, permits such immediate receipt of messages and is adaptable for re-use, but teaches only a limited solution with respect to the problem of transiting audio messages with enclosures: While a small-dimensioned reusably designed "audio mailer" with a built-in recording/reproducing means is a practical modality for transiting audio messages alone or with small, standard-sized documentary enclosures, such as letters or photographs, it is not a practical or efficient modality for transiting audio messages with all manner of sized- and shaped enclosures, goods and products mailed and shipped in commerce.
A wide variety of sized- and shaped conventional mailers, packaging- and shipping vessels are commercially available to which a (suitably protected) recordable microchip apparatus could easily be non-permanently fastened, temporarily converting the same into "audio mailers," "audio packages" or "audio crates"; this would obviate the need to manufacture versions of every sized- and shaped mailing-, packaging- and shipping vessel (required to accommodate enclosed items of the myriad sizes and shapes sent in commerce) with a built-in audio recording/reproducing and storage medium means. In addition to being more practical and efficient, said temporary equipping of ordinary mailing-, packaging- and shipping vessels with an audio recording/reproducing apparatus would prevent considerable wastage since most non-standard-sized mailing-, packaging- and shipping vessels equipped with a built-in recordable microchip or miniaturized magnetic tape recorder (e.g. in a tape loop configuration) would likely be disposed of after a single use.
The present invention enables a user to easily, non-permanently fasten a suitably protected and designed microchip audio recording and playback apparatus containing a recorded voice message or other audio information to interiors of the plurality of sized- and shaped mailing-, packaging- and shipping vessels used in commerce, said suitable design protecting it against unauthorized accidental or intentional activation or breakage during mail or alternate postal-type conveyance.
3. Audio "Point of Sale" Product Promotion
The above-mentioned audio promotion "point of sale" devices require potential customers to be in physical proximity to the good being offered for sale, and have therefore traditionally been placed in store foyers or aisles adjacent products; it has not heretofore been considered practicable to address such "point of sale" audio messages to recipients of goods sent to individuals on a trial, non-obligation or unconditionally returnable basis by mail or alternate postal-type carrier, such as, for example, Book Of The Month Club offerings and the like. Such potential customers, however, may be equally if not more receptive to such audio "sales pitches" than persons browsing store foyers or aisles inasmuch as they have typically already expressed positive interest in the product prior to receiving it on a trial, non-obligation or returnable basis, and would likely be paying direct attention to the product upon unwrapping it at the time they activated and listened to the audio message (from e.g. the author, company president, etc.).
The present invention enables vendors of goods and products sent to potential customers on a trial, non-obligation or returnable basis by mail or alternate postal-type carrier to easily, non-permanently fasten a (suitably protected) recording and playback apparatus containing an audio "point of sale" informational message or "sales pitch" directly upon products or goods, or elsewhere in the interiors of the mailing or packaging vessels in which they are sent. Because it is easily reusable, the apparatus also serves as a gratuity to recipients for said audio product promotion purposes, and may have embossed on its housing exterior the sending company's name or logo for publicity purposes during the course of its subsequent re-use.
The invention may also be employed for the conveyance upon home delivery of certain mail order products or those purchased via television, of an audio message of thanks or salutation to customers from a company's president. For example, goods purchased from "home shopping" television programs could appropriately be shipped with an "audio thank you note," consistent with the transaction's origin from an electronic audio/visual sales pitch.
In a related vein, the present invention may also be employed when a product's vendor wishes to convey an audio commendation of the product's virtues along with a complimentary product sent to a non-purchaser whose approval or endorsement is desired; for example, a book publisher may include personal words of praise from himself or an admirer of the author with complimentary copies of just-published books sent to print and media book reviewers, in hopes of encouraging them to select the work for a (hopefully favorable) review. Likewise, a record company executive or recording artist might include a brief sample of a song and/or a verbal appeal for airplay with the shipment of complimentary copies of the artist's latest compact disc to radio station executives and disc jockeys.
4. Self-Reminders
The above-mentioned miniature tape recorders used for dictating self-reminders are generally carried loose in pockets, brief cases or purses and are not fashioned to be fastened, nested or conjoined for storing or carrying purposes with related compatible objects such as datebooks, address books and the like. The commercially available microchip self-reminder devices are likewise hand-held items. A novelty "pen" with a built-in tape loop can be loosely clipped onto vest pockets, datebook jackets and the like, but is likewise a non-securable object which can easily fall off unnoticed, and thereby be lost and unavailable. In that event, a person consulting his or her appointment- or datebook, for example, and wishing to dictate a self-reminder pertaining to an entry therein, would not immediately be able to do so.
The present invention enables a user to easily, non-permanently fasten a recording and playback apparatus for reciting self-reminders to the exteriors or interiors of related compatible objects the user always carries with them, or keeps close at hand, such as a briefcase, datebook, address book and the like, giving them the ability to record such self-reminders at any and all times.
Additional Purposes and Uses
The above-described purposes and applications are not to the exclusion of numerous, diverse additional uses to which the present invention may be put, such as for the conveyance with shipped products of audio warnings (to supplement printed warning labels) or audio "special handling" instructions; or the mailing by politicians of a audio message of thanks or solidarity with package-sized enclosures of campaign paraphernalia such as yard signs, bumper-stickers and/or trinkets with the politician's name embossed upon them.
All of the above-mentioned non-individual or household uses requiring conveyance of the identical audio message to numerous receiving parties may be efficiently and conveniently accomplished by computer assisted programming of selected vocal messages or other audio information for multiple units of the present apparatus simultaneously, as further detailed below in Description of the Embodiments of the Invention.
The present invention then, forms a supplemental option among the arsenal of known communicative methods and instruments, such as telephone calls, answering machine messages, separately conveyed audiotape cassettes, said "audio mailer" previously disclosed by co-inventor Jacobson, and written notes of the "post-it" type and others. ("Post-it" is a registered trademark of the 3-M Company). As such, it is designed with the requirements of inexpensive mass production and use, light weight, low retail and transit costs, and ease of reuse in mind.
Tangentially hereto, audio recording- and/or reproducing devices, and/or associated storage medium means, have previously been disclosed and claimed for message conveyance purposes as: an intra-household message device secured to the inward front door knob and activated by the turning key of a person entering the house Lin!; a door actuated message device with a quick attach-detach mounting bracket Slack et al.!; and as a message conveyance system by which persons at the front door of a residence can route a message to the resident's telephone answering machine Lipscher et al.!. Said devices and means have previously been disclosed and claimed for audio mail purposes as: mailers customized to receive individual audiotape cassettes, with or without further enclosures Smith! Ellis! Silengo!; and as a self-contained "audio mailer" having in certain embodiments a space adapted to receive indicia Jacobson!. Said devices and means have previously been disclosed and claimed for product promotion or conveyance purposes as: a portable "point of sale" audiotape playback device with a hook-shaped means of securement to automobile windows and household doors Lunsford!; and as a combined insignia and small merchandise display Tarrant, 1980!. Said devices and means have also been disclosed and claimed for personal entertainment purposes with VELCRO-type means of attachment to the human torso Ekman et al.!, the human arm Curley! and bicycle handlebars Rogowski!.